In a move that some people found amazing and others expected, Rep. Tom Feeney (R-FL) has filed a new elections bill. HR-3910 ? Verifying the Outcome of Tomorrow's Elections Act of 2005 does nothing to verify the outcome of "tomorrow's" elections, but it does further the RNC's wish to keep as many poor, elderly, disabled, and people of color (in other words ? normally Democratic voters) away from the polls as they possibly can.

And who is this Rep. Feeney? If you recall, he was the person alleged to have asked for a programmer to write software to switch the touch-screen votes, undetected, in Florida. Clint Curtis, whose story was originally broken here at BRAD BLOG, was the programmer. When asked about this latest step by Feeney, he responded via email simply: ?Appears that Mr. Feeney is still trying to protect his fixed voting system?.

Around the water coolers on ?The Hill?, there has been talk that Rush Holt's Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act (HR 550) would be going to mark-up sometime in October. It is timely that suddenly Rep. Feeney would produce a bill that will now allow the House leaders to blend the two bills and make one bill that represents their view of privatization of elections.

This bill provides for a voter verified paper audit trail but it leaves to the states how that audit trail will be used, if at all. No verification there.

The outrageous portion of the bill is the part that discusses a voter ID requirement. No driver's license, state ID card, student ID, library card or utility bill will do, according to this bill. Instead, in order to qualify, a voter will require:

(2) MINIMUM DOCUMENT REQUIREMENTS- To meet the requirements of this subsection, a State shall include, at a minimum, the following information and features on each photo identification issued to a person by the State for purposes of subsection (b):

(A) The person's full legal name.

(B) The person's date of birth.

(C) The person's gender.

(D) The person's number for the form of the identification.

(E) A digital photograph of the person.

(F) The person's address of principle residence.

(G) The person's signature.

(H) Physical security features designed to prevent tampering, counterfeiting, or duplication of the document for fraudulent purposes.

(I) A common machine-readable technology, with defined minimum data elements.

(3) MINIMUM ISSUANCE STANDARDS

(A) IN GENERAL- To meet the requirements of this subsection, a State shall require, at a minimum, presentation and verification of the following information before issuing a photo identification to a person for purposes of subsection (b):

(i) A photo identity document, except that a non-photo identity document is acceptable if it includes both the person's full legal name and date of birth.

(ii) Documentation showing the person's date of birth.

(iii) Proof of the person's social security account number or verification that the person is not eligible for a social security account number.

(iv) Documentation showing the person's name and address of principal residence.

And what if the voter is an absentee voter? According to this bill they will have to include a copy of their ID, with SSN and address and personal information, in the envelope along with their ballot.

Last week, in response to the unbelievably poor Baker-Carter Commission report, and the rumors in DC that HR-550 may be going for ?mark-up', VoteTrustUSA and other groups began a write-in campaign asking members of congress to leave HR-550 untouched. This seems to be the best approach at this time.

All of this is a bit hard to swallow. Of special significance for me is:

"And what if the voter is an absentee voter? According to this bill they will have to include a copy of their ID, with SSN and address and personal information, in the envelope along with their ballot."

As an absentee voter (and generally identity-theft paranoid) I wouldn't entertain the thought of putting all that information into an envelope and send it through the mail. That just screams STEAL ME for FREE CREDIT CARDS. And what then? Long waits at the polls while everyone is 100% ID checked?

Constance Kaplan, a front woman for Fraud who was stupid enough to show how ES&S employees "rigged" the machines to destroy undervotes. I mean come on.

The list goes on and on......Delay and his cartel are crooked sons of guns, and thanks to us Federal prosecutors got evidence.....But what about FEENEY?!

Who knows a special "counsel" in Florida, whos NOT as CORRUPT or anywhere near Jeb Bush or Bill Nelson?! Who knows someone in Florida's democratic party, green party, ANY party who can NAIL this arse FEENEY?!!

The "blending" of two bills by committee in congress is always an "under the radar" event. IT is under-reported and I hear the Republican majority likes closed sessions in the middle of the night a whole lot. The problem , it seems to me, is shining a spotlight on this entire problem. I know Brad and the Velvets and Black Box have done a whole lot of work to do just that, and Rep Conyers too. But it isn't enough. The public has left verified voting to boil away on the back burner. Someone please tell me how this is going to be different this time? I have contacted my Congressman--more than once---and my homestate of NC had one of the more noteworthy problems with voting machines. But the outrage is not being translated into effective resistance.

Doug, I believe that there are no special prosecutors in Florida or anywhere else, for that matter, until they are appointed by someone like, say, the justice department or the governor. And I'm no expert, but I don't believe "we" can just empanel grand juries. Any of us 6 or 7 out there know anything about this type of law? Can we force referendums onto ballots via petitions? Let's not just rant and rave (although it sure does feel good sometimes), let's find a practical way we can actually throw these bums out, and switch to paper and pencil ballots and supervised hand counts by volunteer citizens and witnessed by any interested citizens, as they do in Canada or Germany (it was the US that imposed this standard on the Germans post-WWII, and it's still working fine for them).

Or perhaps if anyone here is an attorney, that might be the move. Maybe Brad or Winter could put you in touch with Clint, and then put in a call to Fitzgerald's office. A call from an attorney would have a bit more weight.

Tom Feeney is what being a neo-con today is all about. That we have members of Congress like him is living proof that elections are rigged.

******************************************

It is quite painful for many of us to listen to George Bush giving speeches as though he had been duly elected as our president. For those of us aware of the cons long-standing plans for invasions in the Middle East (there new world order). We who read of their expressed needs for a new Pearl Harbor type event to gain support for such invasions. It is most difficult for those of us aware of the long-standing friendships between the Bushes and the Ben Ladens and of past favors rendered to listen to this now. We hear again his using that same event to justify their wars and for grabbing further powers and further restricting our freedoms. All is this is quite trying on those of us who have faced honestly all available facts involving 9-11, and those of us who are painfully aware of all evidence that is being still withheld from us. To know that we are listening to the worst kind of criminals using their-own criminal deeds of that day to justify further crimes against the people of this country and much of the world.

It is a truly drastic type of character disorder which permits so much planned devastation that they might pursues there agendas of greed and premeditated plans for shifting all wealth. For those of us with a clear grasp of what they have done and of what they are now attempting to do, it is quite difficult for us see the likes of George Bush standing behind a presidential podium and still successfully deceiving some, still blaming there extreme misdeeds on others and using them to justify continuing on their most dangerous missions.

Those of us who, by whatever means, have been able to avoid being deceived now have a real burden upon us. We need to do all that we can to make others aware as to the magnitude of what we are up against.

Hopefully the indictments will arive in time to save some of the country from their ongoing efforts.

Thanks to bloggers like John Gideon, we are getting the whole picture about what Tom Feeney is up to now>>> on the surface, "paper trail " looks good, but as Gideon points out, how it is used (or not used ) by the states makes unverifiable paper like having no paper at all!

I've put together a Political Friendster thread that includes the significant "players" in the Tom Feeney alleged vote-rigging conspiracy story (hopefully more , as it progresses) ... please feel free to add on any notables I've left out !